Inappetant baby cham

[MzLaurie]

Are the walls to your cage glass? You really need to get rid of the entire floor and have it clean for several reasons. First, she is a female and will think the floor is the floor of the forest and try to dig a hole to lay eggs with no luck. She won’t know to use a lay bin. Next, it is a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, and parasites. Also the food is going to wander down there and she will snap out her sticky tongue and pickup other stuff with the food that will cause her impaction. On the other hand, I love the vines and branches you added. The feeding cup needs to be really wedged in so it stable with a branch in it and over it so she can climb in and out. Also I always had a second feeding cup that I glued to a heavy rock and set on a tall covered Tupperware tower that was filled with rocks and wax. You can use an upside down terracotta pot as they are heavy. I had it placed on the ground but up under vines that mine could get to when they were still hungry and put different feeders in there like the treats wax worm and mealworms. That way when I misted I could pick up the bowl so it would get wet. How are you misting? The misting triggers the drink response and help with humidity.

 

[XamCham]

Are the walls to your cage glass? You really need to get rid of the entire floor and have it clean for several reasons. First, she is a female and will think the floor is the floor of the forest and try to dig a hole to lay eggs with no luck. She won’t know to use a lay bin. Next, it is a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, and parasites. Also the food is going to wander down there and she will snap out her sticky tongue and pickup other stuff with the food that will cause her impaction. On the other hand, I love the vines and branches you added. The feeding cup needs to be really wedged in so it stable with a branch in it and over it so she can climb in and out. Also I always had a second feeding cup that I glued to a heavy rock and set on a tall covered Tupperware tower that was filled with rocks and wax. You can use an upside down terracotta pot as they are heavy. I had it placed on the ground but up under vines that mine could get to when they were still hungry and put different feeders in there like the treats wax worm and mealworms. That way when I misted I could pick up the bowl so it would get wet. How are you misting? The misting triggers the drink response and help with humidity.

I will have to reply to this once I get home tonight, I'm about to run out the door with the kids.

Sylara is at the clinic now, she's in good hands with my team for the day. Once I'm home I'll be able to reply properly.

Again, thank you all so much for helping me help Sylara. I've only had her for a few weeks but she's already part of the family.

 

[XamCham]

Are the walls to your cage glass? You really need to get rid of the entire floor and have it clean for several reasons. First, she is a female and will think the floor is the floor of the forest and try to dig a hole to lay eggs with no luck. She won’t know to use a lay bin. Next, it is a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, and parasites. Also the food is going to wander down there and she will snap out her sticky tongue and pickup other stuff with the food that will cause her impaction. On the other hand, I love the vines and branches you added. The feeding cup needs to be really wedged in so it stable with a branch in it and over it so she can climb in and out. Also I always had a second feeding cup that I glued to a heavy rock and set on a tall covered Tupperware tower that was filled with rocks and wax. You can use an upside down terracotta pot as they are heavy. I had it placed on the ground but up under vines that mine could get to when they were still hungry and put different feeders in there like the treats wax worm and mealworms. That way when I misted I could pick up the bowl so it would get wet. How are you misting? The misting triggers the drink response and help with humidity.

Only the front is glass. The top is mesh, the sides are dark colored PVC.

Soil - I'm planning to cover all the soil with weed cloth, then large river rocks. So that the bioactive portion keeps doing it's job, so that all the moisture produced from her misting system and dripper are being utilized rather than just sitting, and so the plants she's relying on for hiding spaces stay healthy. The weed cloth will keep her prey items from coming into contact with the soil, and the rocks will mean she can't get to anything resembling soil either, so once she's an adult I can put in a nesting area that's appropriate for her that will be the only appealing space for egg laying.

Feeding cups - Thank you for this, I will find a way to secure the bowl. She hasn't seemed to mind that it wiggles a little so far, I do see her using it periodically. Could you show a picture of how you set up your feeding cups? I'm struggling to imagine what you're describing.

Misting - I'm using an automatic misting system. 10 minutes before lights-on it mists the enclosure for 2 minutes, and 10 minutes before lights-off it does the same.

Overall automation - 7am the misting system goes off. 7:10am the lights come on. 8:50pm the misting system goes off. 9:00pm the lights go off. 7am-9pm basking spot temp is 80-85 on a digital thermostat, which keeps the cold areas of the enclosure at about 70. 9pm-7am the thermostat only clicks on if the enclosure gets to 60 degrees, and only heats to 70. It has not yet been triggered to turn on, so night time temp is a pretty consistent 64. At night, my room gets down to about 60 degrees, so I have an automatic fogger that triggers on when humidity goes below 75, but at 7am it won't turn on at all unless the humidity gets below 35%, and stops at 55%.

Lighting - until the new bulb comes in, I have the old one 15" above the highest basking spot

 

[Beman]

Thank you, I'm ordering the correct one now.

Looks like she's still losing weight. Weighed her last night and she's down to 4.77 grams.

She's still just not eating enough to gain. :/

Going to pop into work here in a minute to talk to my vet and see what she says, she's probably going to send me home with ceftazidime and some critical care. Anything else I should ask her about? Fecal is negative for parasites, no signs of RI.

What are you feeding her and what sized feeders? There are multiple ways to feed them... Most common are feeder runs and cups. Some do not take to the cups right off.

This is a DIY feeder run link. https://dragonstrand.com/constructing-a-chameleon-feeder-run/

 

[Dexter.]

Thank you, I'm ordering the correct one now.

Looks like she's still losing weight. Weighed her last night and she's down to 4.77 grams.

She's still just not eating enough to gain. :/

Going to pop into work here in a minute to talk to my vet and see what she says, she's probably going to send me home with ceftazidime and some critical care. Anything else I should ask her about? Fecal is negative for parasites, no signs of RI.

I've been following this thread (newbie here, so no advice), and I'm wondering how your little one is doing? Is she eating yet?